


Getting Social(ly Awkward) and other Findings of Peeta's (Forced) Quest to Get a Life

by Veronica_Stone



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23924962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veronica_Stone/pseuds/Veronica_Stone
Summary: A Hunger Games AU where basically Peeta's bread brings all the boys to the yard.
Relationships: Cato/Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne/Peeta Mellark, Peeta Mellark/Finnick Odair
Comments: 23
Kudos: 155





	1. Getting A Day Off

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for this.  
> None.

Weekends were for working, at least that’s always what Peeta’s adhered to. Saturdays and Sundays saw the bakery jam packed with locals trying to get their carbo-shopping done for the week from sun up to sun down now that school was back in session. Sharing the work load with three other brothers and his two parents should have lessened the madness of the weekend, but for Peeta, being the most artistic of the Mellarks meant that almost all decorating fell into his care. So when Katniss invited him to yet another upperclassmen (invite only) beach trip one Saturday afternoon, Peeta didn’t even think twice about refusing. 

“You’ve missed all of the upperclassmen get togethers this year,” Katniss whined. 

Peeta shrugged. “Until they’re on some other day besides Saturday or Sunday, I’m gonna miss all of them.” 

Katniss pursed her lips and growled. “Have you even asked your parents if you could take like one Saturday off?”

“Umm.” Honestly, the thought of asking to duck out of a shift hadn’t even crossed Peeta’s mind- mostly because he was 99.99% sure of the answer. Unfortunately, Peeta’s one second pause told Katniss everything she needed to know and before Peeta could stop her, she’d hopped behind the counter and strolled into the kitchen calling for Mr. Mellark.  
“Shit,” Peeta muttered under his breath. If anyone was weak to Katniss Everdeen, it was his father who’d always been charmed by the girl since she’d punched a boy that had been picking on Peeta on the playground when they were three and proclaimed “we protect each other.” 

Peeta turned back to wiping down the counter when his father came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of fresh bread. “Peeta, how many of these upperclassmen things have you missed?”

“Five,” Katniss cut in.

Peeta glared. “He wasn’t asking you.”

Mr. Mellark ignored his son. “It’s your junior year, you should be out having a good time. Not just working.”

“But dad-“

“We can spare you every other weekend, son. Go to the beach with your friends tomorrow and have a good time.”

With that, Mr. Mellark went back into the kitchen leaving behind a stunned Peeta and a smirking Katniss. She grinned not unlike the cat that got the canary. “Hope you have your swim trunks on hand Mellark. I’ll be by at 8 tomorrow morning. Rest up since this is gonna be wild!” And with a flick of her braid, she went out the glass doors of the bakery and strolled down the street, whistling. 

And in all of this, Peeta hadn’t gotten a word in. 

No surprise there.


	2. Just Beachy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all get to the beach and Peeta's bread brings all the boys to the yard

When they got to the beach and set up camp, the sun was already high in the sky and the temperature was creeping up to the mid 90s and it wasn’t even noon. Katniss and Madge immediately climbed under the umbrella and stripped off their outerwear to apply sunscreen. 

“Jesus but it’s hot,” Katniss mumbled. “Peeta, lose the shirt or you’ll sweat to death and I am not explaining to your parents why you passed out on your first social outing ever.”

“It’s not my first social outing, Katniss,” Peeta mumbled as he peeled off his baggy t shirt. It was hot as hell, but Peeta wasn’t the most comfortable when it came to showing skin beyond his legs and arms in public. He wasn’t self conscious per se, just…not comfortable flaunting what little he had while there were bronzed and busty gods and goddess running around. 

“Screw it,” he thought as he threw his t-shirt into his bag and picked up his sunscreen. The chittering of his friends suddenly stopped and Katniss spoke up:  
“Jesus Peeta, where the hell have you been hiding that?”

Peeta looked around, confused. “Hiding what?”

“Your body. You’re ripped,” Madge chimed in. 

Peeta flushed, turning his back to the girls as he accidentally squirted a little too much sunscreen into his palm. “Um, nowhere?” He felt his face grow even hotter when Katniss spoke up again.  
“You should consider working the counter at the bakery shirtless. Your business would skyrocket.”

Peeta scrunched his nose at the thought. “Pretty sure that goes against the health code, Katniss.” Was this what it was going to be like going out with his friends? Because if Peeta was gonna be made uncomfortable every time he went out in public, he’ll pass thank you very much. Katniss, clearly unaware of Peeta’s embarrassment, continued with a shrug. “I’ll pitch the idea to your dad when we get back.” 

Madge laughed. “I’d sure as hell go for that.”

“I’d have to agree.”

Peeta jumped at the new very male voice that had joined the conversation. He turned and stifled a groan at the sight of the newest member of the group. There in all his bronzed and buff glory stood none other than Finnick Odair, looking every bit the greek god that he was.

Peeta had never exchanged more than a few words with the popular boy in his life, although he definitely knew all about him. Finnick was the most charming person in all of school, no question. Possibly the cockiest too, but with a swimmer’s physique, million dollar smile and and a year-round tan, it was understandable.  
Peeta attempted to speak, “Uh-“

“Hey Finnick,” Katniss said jumping up to greet the teen. 

Finnick nodded at her, but kept his eyes on Peeta. “Everdeen, see you finally got Mellark to slum it with us.”

Katniss rolled her eyes and threw an arm around Peeta who was blushing furiously. “Psht! Fuck you. He’s with us, not Cato and the bimbo patrol over there.” Everyone looked towards the louder crowd that Katniss had nodded her head to. A group of about ten students were gathered under a few umbrellas chugging beers and laughing obnoxiously. The clear center of this group was a blond Adonis looking guy who, for all intents and purposes, looked like a greek god among mere mortals. Cato Hadley, though a bit of a brute, was easily one of the hottest guys in school and Peeta would have to be blind not to admit that. Their paths had never really crossed, so what Peeta knew of the older boy was only through other people. From what he understood, Peeta should be grateful that he’s never had an interaction with Cato but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the view. 

He must have been staring because all of a sudden Cato turned and made direct eye contact, almost like he’d felt Peeta’s gaze on him. But instead of looking irritated or disgusted, the older boy stared back and smiled devilishly before tossing a wink Peeta’s way. If it was possible to blush even more, Peeta did so and quickly turned his attention back to his friends and Finnick. 

“Peeta, you’re burning already,” Katniss teased. “Too much time in the bakery has made you pasty.”  
From her teasing tone, Peeta could tell that Katniss didn’t think the redness in his face was from the sun. Sometimes he questioned why they were friends.

“I am not,” he muttered petulantly as he remembered the sunscreen in his hand and went back to rubbing it on his shoulders. The truth was, he was prone to sun burns and he’d rather not look like a lobster in front of his classmates, thank you very much. 

“Let me get your back,” Finnick offered and took the sunscreen bottle from Peeta without waiting for a response. 

Peeta wondered if it was possible to have a permanent blush, because he was more than positive that he could not be any more embarrassed if he tried.

He jumped at the first touch of Finnick’s hands on his back. “Oops, sorry. Probably a little chilly,” the older boy replied.

“No, it’s-it’s fine,” Peeta stuttered. Goosebumps broke out on his body as he felt Finnick’s hot breath ghost over his neck. 

“It’ll warm up in a minute.” 

As Finnick’s hands worked lower down his back, Peeta attempted to relax under the pressure. ‘Deep breathes Peeta,’ he thought. ‘It’s just a hot guy platonically putting sunscreen on you. Nothing to freak out about.’ 

As Finnick’s hands worked their way onto Peeta’s hips and sides (Peeta was pretty sure that was something he could’ve done himself), Katniss cut in. “Odair, I know Peeta is hot, but could you maybe hold off on molesting him until you’re in private? Thanks.” 

“Jesus Katniss!” Peeta cried. He was going to die today, he was sure. He was going to die of embarrassment.

Finnick, on the other hand, didn’t seem embarrassed at all. “Just helping a friend out. Wouldn’t want Peeta getting skin cancer.” He stepped back from Peeta and moved in front of him, like he was checking his handy work. “There you go. Let me know if you need to reapply later. I’m just down there with Johanna and Delly.” He motioned down the beach towards another umbrella with two girls under it. 

“Um, sure. Thanks Finnick,” Peeta responded, avoiding Finnick’s gaze. 

Finnick flashed a predatory grin. “Come on over and hangout later. All of you.” He addressed the group but his gaze lingered on Peeta. “See you later.” With that, he jogged back towards his camp, turning back to look at Peeta one more time.

“He seems…friendly,” Peeta said lamely as he sat down on his towel. 

Katniss snorted. “Yeah, that’s totally what that all was. Friendly.”

Madge giggled. “If you make out with him, let us know so we can watch okay?”

Peeta looked at the giggling girls dumbly. “That’s-what? No. Finnick-no.”

“It’s only fair Peeta,” Katniss cut in. “It never would have happened if we hadn’t forced you to come out today.”

“I’m not making out with Finnick,” Peeta grit out. “Finnick doesn’t want to make out with me.”

Madge and Katniss shared a pointed look. “That sensual massage we just witnessed suggests otherwise.”

Peeta groaned. “He was just being nice.”

Katniss snorted, “Oh yeah. Real nice.” She and Madge burst out into giggles and Peeta stood up. “I’m going in the water. When you two are done being ridiculous, let me know.” He ran down the beach, followed by his friends’ laughter. 

The cool water was a blessing to Peeta’s burning skin and he quickly submerged himself into the ocean. Peeta let out a contented sigh when he popped back up to the surface before leaning his head back and gazing up at the clear blue sky. 

“Water’s nice.”

Peeta jumped in surprise at the voice and accidentally inhaled a nose full of seawater. He coughed and spluttered as his eyes and throat burned from the sudden onslaught of salt. 

A strong hand pounded his back. “Shit, sorry. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you there.” 

Peeta wiped the tears from his eyes as his coughing subsided. “It’s fine. I’m kinda graceless.” It was only then that he looked up and noticed that the intruder was none other than Cato Hadley. “Oh. Um. Hi.” 

If Cato was attractive at a distance, it was nothing compared to what he looked like up close. Piercing blue eyes bored into Peeta’s grey ones, freckles dotted a strong aquiline nose and full lips fought off a smirk. Water droplets tantalizingly rolled down a thick neck to outline strong shoulders, pumped pecs and (was that an eight pack)? Peeta semi awkwardly crossed his arms in front of his own chest and tried to avert his gaze. Don’t be creepy, Mellark. 

Cato only grinned harder. Peeta’s gaze must not have been as subtle as he’d hoped. “Peeta, right? I’ve seen you around at school. Only not at any of these outings.”

Peeta nodded dumbly. “Yeah, same,” he stumbled out. “I mean, same that I’ve seen you at school, not same that I haven’t seen you at any of these outings.” Christ but he sounded like an idiot. “Not that I’d know if you’d been to any since I haven’t gone to any. So for all I know, you’ve been to all of these things and I just…haven’t.” Peeta hoped that a massive tidal wave would come at any moment to swallow him up and save him from making a bigger idiot of himself. 

It didn’t.t 

“I work weekends,” he finished lamely.

Cato smiled. “No shame in that! Only it’s good to get out and socialize every now and then, right? Hang out with friends, get to know others.”

Peeta couldn’t help but grin at the other boy’s clear attempt at comfort. It was working, “Yeah, although if Katniss and Madge keep up the teasing I may be in the market for new friends soon.” That got a (deep and rumbling and sexy and down Peeta) laugh out of Cato.

“What could they possibly tease you about?”

Peeta shrugged. “My gracelessness, old-mannishness, shortness? The list is endless.” If it was possible, Cato grinned even harder at that and Peeta felt his own smile grow. Self-deprecating humor was his comfort zone. 

“Well if you need someone to defend your honor, tag me in. “

Peeta rolled his eyes. “You don’t even know me! All of those things could be true!”

Cato leaned in conspiratorially. “Yeah, but when they’re rolled into a hot package like you, they work.” 

He was dead, he had to be. Or swallowed too much salt water and his brain cells were now drowning, because there was no way in hell that Cato Hadley was flirting with him, Peeta Mellark. Peeta tried to come up with a somewhat appropriate response.

“Uh…huh?” 

Cato grinned devilishly and leaned in closely, so close that his bare chest was almost touching’s Peeta’s and dear lord what was happening? 

“Would you maybe wanna-“

“Cato!”

A shrill screech cut off whatever Cato was about to say and he turned irritatedly towards the beach. “Glimmer, what?!” Peeta took the opportunity to duck under water and put some space between them. When he surfaced, whatever conversation had just taken place was apparently done, Cato looked at him. 

“I gotta head out for a bit, but I’ll be back later. You gonna stick around ’til the bonfire?”

Peeta nodded dazedly. “Yeah, I think so unless Katniss needs to head out earlier. She’s my ride so I’m kind of at her mercy.” 

Cato laughed and clapped Peeta on the shoulder. “Well if she ends up bailing early, stick around anyway and I’ll give you a lift home after.” His hand flicked Peeta’s chin before pulling away. “See ya later.” Peeta tried very hard not to ogle the older boy as he strolled out of the water, but damn it was hard to ignore the view. 

Now that he was alone, Peeta noticed the slight chill running up his legs from the water and opted to follow Cato’s lead and head back to Katniss and Madge. 

When he got back to the camp, Peeta grabbed a towel and started drying himself off. Madge was busy flipping through a magazine and Katniss was sunning herself behind a pair of large sunglasses. For a moment, Peeta thought she’d fallen asleep. Then she spoke.

“So did you just score Cato’s digits out there or what?”

Dropping the now dampened towel on the sand, Peeta grabbed for the sunscreen. “Um, no. That’s definitely not what happened.”

Katniss peered over her sunglasses at him like a predator eyeing up its prey. “So that wasn’t another mating ritual you were and unsuspecting participant in that I just saw?” Peeta rubbed sunblock on his face to shield the flush that was creeping up. 

“There was no mating ritual and you need to be cut off from the Nat Geo Channel.”

He didn’t need to see Katniss roll her eyes to know that she was doing it. “Please, Mellark. If I’d known your virgin ass was gonna bring all the boys to the yard, I would’ve considered taking more appropriate security precautions.” 

Peeta almost choked on his tongue while he bent down to spread his towel on the sand. “Filter Katniss. Find one. And, no that is definitely not what’s happening.” He threw himself onto his towel and reached into his bag for his drawing pad and pencil. 

“Yeah and Cato Hadley wasn’t just staring intensely at your ass when you put down that towel,” she retorted. 

“No one’s looking at my ass.” Still, Peeta couldn’t help but glance over towards Cato’s group and sure enough, he caught the tail end of a blue eyed gaze that had definitely been angled in his direction. 

Katniss shoved her sunglasses back up on her nose and leaned back in her chair. “I’m keeping my eye on you, Mellark. I promised your father I’d bring you home with your virtue intact.” 

Peeta settled in to his sketching. “I’d call bullshit on that, but I think you might be serious.”

He could feel Katniss smirk behind him. 

After that, the group was quiet for a bit save for the sound of Peeta’s pencil scratching on his paper and Madge’s giggling over some girly article. It might have been an hour or so that another voice broke in, disrupting the silence. 

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late.” Peeta didn’t need to look to know who that voice belonged to. He’d know it anywhere since it haunted his dreams. 

“Hi Gale,” Madge cooed standing up to give the tall boy a hug. 

“Hey Madge. Burning yet?”

Madge giggled, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder flirtatiously. “Not that I can tell, but I might need someone to look me over and see if I missed any spots with the sunblock!” 

Damn the girl was shameless. And so damn natural in her flirting that Peeta couldn’t help but be a little jealous. 

He turned back to take in the newest addition to their beach camp. At 6’2 with his athletic build, olive skin and matching dark hair and eyes, Gale Hawthorne was (in Peeta’s opinion) the sexiest guy in school. And what was worse, he didn’t even know it. He was modest like that and seriously wtf? Where Cato and Finnick were outrageously confident and outgoing, Gale was more reserved and mysterious (girls’ words, not Peeta’s). He was nice to everyone, but kept close to only a few people. Peeta knew him only by association with Katniss and Madge and to be honest, the older boy made him nervous. Not in the intimidating way but in the ‘I think he’s perfect and I want to climb him like a tree and oh my god he’s way too cool for me’ kind of way. 

It was at that moment that Gale looked over and made eye contact and Peeta had to fight back a swoon. Seriously Peeta, get your shit together.

“Hey Gale,” he nodded casually (and ok, so far so good, Mellark.)

Gale smiled. “Peeta! You came!”

Peeta shrugged and tried not to analyze Gale’s words too deeply. “Thought I’d get out of the dungeon for a while. Maybe try getting one of those life things that everyone talks about.”

The deep rumbling chuckle Gale elicited certainly did not do things to Peeta. Not at all. 

“And how are you liking having a life so far?” Gale asked teasingly as he started setting up his towel.

Katniss cut in. “He’s been living it up pretty spectacularly. We’ve been here for 2 hours and he’s already gotten felt up by Finnick and hit on by Cato. I think he’s gonna be trouble.”

If looks could kill, Peeta was pretty sure Katniss would be dead. Seriously. He needs to find new friends.

Gale looked up at that and raised his eyebrows at Peeta. “Seriously?”

Peeta answered ’no’ while Katniss and Madge answered ‘yes.’

Peeta was going to die of embarrassment. “Finnick put sunscreen on my back and Cato almost drowned me and apologized for it. That’s it.” 

“Finnick gave 70% of your upper body a thorough rub down and copped a feel and Cato went into the water the second you did and stood very close while you talked,” Katniss supplied. 

Gale frowned slightly. “Sounds like you’ve been having a busy morning.”

Peeta groaned. “Mostly an annoying one thanks to Dear Abby over there.” He shook his head slightly, trying to ward off the flush he felt creeping into his cheeks and turned back to his drawing. “Finnick flirts with everything and Cato has little sense of personal space.” 

Katniss snorted, but said nothing. Maybe she wasn’t totally hopeless. 

“Two to one, Mellark. Sounds like you were pretty popular with the boys today.” Peeta scowled at Gale’s sly grin.

“Thanks a lot asshole.” That only made Gale laugh even more as he settled in to chatting with the group. Maybe Gale Hawthorne wasn’t so great after all.


	3. Blonde Ambitions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gale has thoughts and Finnick has moves

Gale was a little surprised to see Peeta today, but he couldn’t say that he was disappointed. He knew that Katniss was behind getting the boy to the beach and he’d have to find some way to thank her because, damn the view was nice.

His interaction with Peeta had been limited (not by choice), but it didn’t change the fact that Gale really wanted to get to know the younger boy. A lot. 

Although, striking up a conversation with Peeta while he was half naked was going to be a test of Gale’s self restraint. See the thing was, Gale had always had a thing for blonds. Ok, well just one blond if he’s being honest and having said blond spread out on a beach towel covered in a sheen of sweat and sea water two feet away was…yeah. Gale really couldn’t say he was disappointed with how the day was already turning out. 

Apparently he wasn’t the only one. 

When Katniss mentioned that both Finnick and Cato had already been sniffing around Peeta, Gale had felt the green eyed monster stir in his chest, which was just stupid because he barely knew the guy. And besides, it seemed like Peeta had had zero idea that he was being hit on so at least he couldn’t have reciprocated right? 

But still. 

Gale was well aware of what attention from both Cato and Finnick did to a person and when it came to charm, he was severely lacking in that department in comparison. 

‘Hawthorne, you’re being a dumbass.’ 

Besides, he didn’t even know if Peeta leaned that way. For all he knew the boy’s lack of a girlfriend could’ve been due to his shyness (which was stupidly adorable). That could be easy to find out though. 

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Gale, an opportunity was just about to present itself. 

It had only been a few minutes from when he arrived that Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason decided to crash their camp. 

“Hawthorne, you made it!” Finnick smiled as he clapped Gale on the shoulder in greeting. 

Gale grinned back. “Yeah, thought I’d get out for a bit. Get a little sun before the nice weather runs out on us.”

Finnick laughed. “Same.”

Johanna quirked an eye brow. “You’re tan year round, Odair.”

Finnick brushed her off with a “semantics,” before turning his attention to Peeta who was definitely hiding behind his sketch pad. “Ready for that reapplication of sunscreen yet, Mellark? I can get your back again.” 

Gale grit his teeth when Finnick plopped down (a little too closely) besides Peeta on his towel. Damn but the guy moved fast. 

The redness that sprung into Peeta’s cheeks was hard not to stare at. Either an instant sunburn popped up or Peeta was blushing. 

“It’s only been a few hours, Fin. I’m fine.”

Definitely a blush. Gale filed that away for later.

Finnick grinned as he leaned back on his hands and tried to catch Peeta’s gaze. “Yeah, but you probably washed it all off in the water. Better safe than sorry, right?”

Peeta opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Johanna. “Jesus Finnick. Can you go one second without shamelessly flirting with a hot boy? If that’s why we came over here, I’m leaving.”

“He’s not flirting with Gale,” Peeta muttered quietly. He must not have realize that he’d spoken aloud because, if possible, Peeta blushed even further. 

“Nah. Madge is doing that,” Katniss cut in. Damn but that girl was a master of embarrassment. 

Madge spluttered. “Am not!” But the redness in her cheeks gave her away and Gale tried to be polite and ignore it. Which wasn’t difficult since he was still stuck on Peeta thinking he was hot. That was going to need to be investigated much more thoroughly. 

Preferably with said boy.

Finnick let out a guffaw at that and scooted even closer to Peeta, much to Gale’s chagrin. “I’m more into blonds these days,” he said pointedly. 

Peeta rolled his eyes. “Cato’s over there,” he nodded. “Glimmer too.” 

“Yeah, but you’re right here,” Finnick leered and okay was he leaning in? 

Yeah, no, that’s enough of that. “What’s up Johanna?” Gale asked a bit loudly. 

He felt Katniss shoot a look at him, but he was so not going to engage right now. 

Johanna put her hands on her hips. “Well, the initial plan was to see if you all wanted to play some volleyball. But I’m thinking Finnick had other motives in coming over here.”

“Volleyball sounds great,” Gale jumped up, accidentally knocking Madge back on to her towel (and wow, she’d definitely gotten closer to him than he’d thought). “Teams of two with subs and a ref?” 

“I think I’d rather watch,” Madge chimed in. 

“That makes two of us,” said Peeta. Finnick wrapped an arm around Peeta’s shoulders and squeezed.

“None of that, Mellark. You can be on my team and Kat and Gale can be on the other. We’ll have a good ol’ fashioned game of blonds vs. brunettes!” 

Johanna grumped. “Gee thanks a lot. It’s not like I wanted to play or anything.” 

The group started to move away from the towels to an open space on the sand. “Really, I’m good. Johanna can play and I can ref,” Peeta said, making one last ditch effort to get out of the game. 

“No way, Mellark,” Katniss shouted. “I don’t trust you not to throw the game in your boyfriend’s favor. You’re playing.” 

Finnick laughed as he drew a line in the sand signifying their ‘net.’ “I like the sound of that,” he said. 

Whether it was the throwing of the game or the boyfriend part of that sentence he liked, no one could tell. But Gale had the sneaking suspicion it was the latter. 

“Bring it on, blondie,” he said as the two teams (and Johanna) got into position. 

If he spiked the ball at Finnick’s smirking face at some points during the game, it wasn’t on purpose.

At least, that’s what Gale is going with.


	4. Wingwoman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katniss sees all and is a good wingwoman

Katniss was finding it hard not to laugh hysterically. But really, could you blame her?

If she’d known that forcing Peeta to socialize would result in the ridiculous peacocking of the three “kings” of the school (not her terminology, thank you), she’d have maybe brought him to an event that didn’t involve so much bare skin. 

She’d inadvertently fed her sweet, shy and self-deprecating Peeta to the wolves on his first outing and there was no doubt that he had zero idea of what the fallout was going to be like.

A better person would pull the poor virginal boy (it’s obvious, okay?) out of the fire before he got burnt because being the target of not only Finnick’s attentions but also Cato and Gale’s? 

Dear lord, the poor kid didn’t stand a chance.

And yet, Katniss found the entire situation hilarious. 

Finnick’s initial flirting was barely given a thought. The swimmer was incapable of not hitting on everything he came across, no matter how old or gross. Katniss had initially teased him about feeling up her friend just to get a rise out of Peeta. And what a glorious rise it was…at first. Peeta’s initial embarrassment was entertaining, but his complete lack of self-esteem desperately needed to be worked on. She didn’t disagree when Peeta had dismissed Finnick’s behavior as, well, just Finnick being Finnick, but still. The guy had copped a massive feel and had lingered far longer than was normal. His coming back to the camp under the pretense of inviting them to play volleyball (which, yeah they did, but that was clearly an excuse) and then gluing himself to Peeta’s side should’ve been an indicator that Finnick was being slightly more than just friendly flirty. 

If Finnick’s attentions weren’t enough to break down some of Peeta’s self-esteem issues, Cato’s should’ve done the trick. Katniss (for some inexplicable reason) had looked up just in time to see the football player abruptly ditch his camp and follow Peeta into the water and she didn’t need to be in the vicinity to know what was going on. She was a hunter and therefore knew another hunter when she saw one and Cato Hadley looked at Peeta like he was his prey. Peeta’s lack of smoothness (really, how the boy got through a day at work without burning the place down, she’d never know) was painful to watch, but apparently it came across as charming since Cato stealthily kept closing the space between them. Katniss was sure that she was about to watch her best friend get devoured when the blond idiot from Cato’s camp (Glimmer, and seriously WTF kind of name was that?) broke up the moment. Peeta might not have known what Cato was planning, but she wasn’t blind. And after catching the footballer ogling Peeta again (and Peeta not noticing again), she resorted to keeping a tab on Cato Hadley. 

But the most entertaining part of Peeta’s social coming out (heh, good one Everdeen) was when Gale arrived.

Ah, yes. Now that’s an interesting scenario.

You see, people underestimated Katniss’ power of sight. She saw pretty much everything and when it came to her friends, there was nowhere to hide, which was a blessing and a curse (blessing for her, curse for them). 

So she really wasn’t surprised when Peeta got flustered around Gale since she knew he’d been crushing on the taller boy for a while, in spite of having very little interaction. 

The thing that was so hilarious about the situation was that she was well aware that that crush went both ways. Gale was significantly more subdued than Peeta and didn’t get embarrassed (which was no fun), but he was still her best friend and Katniss had definitely noticed his eyes tracking the baker boy in school and casually bringing him up in a few conversations. It may not have been an obvious crush, but it was there nonetheless and Katniss had to do her best not to interfere.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t at least fan the flames a bit and mentioning Finnick and Cato’s attentions were the perfect way to do that. Poor Peeta had been too embarrassed to notice that Gale’s green-eyed monster had popped out and Gale had been too distracted by Madge’s outrageous flirting attempts to notice Peeta’s (what she could only describe as wistful) looks directed at him.

Men were such idiots.

That became clearer at the stupid volleyball game that they all got roped into. She and Peeta were the weaker players on their teams, but Gale and Finnick were posturing through the whole game so much anyway that she wasn’t even sure why they were playing at all. Johanna was little help as a ref, failing to call unsportsmanlike conduct every time Gale managed to hit the ball directly at Finnick’s face, which was clearly on purpose. Then again, if Finnick hadn’t been so openly ogling Peeta, he might’ve been able to prevent the balls from hitting his stupid face and, okay, now she understood why Johanna didn’t bother saying anything. 

They’d have to talk later.

But still, it was after Gale nearly broke Finnick’s nose (in retaliation to the swimmer slapping Peeta’s ass in celebration), that she decided a teammate switch needed to happen. Fast. 

It was probably safer for everybody if Finnick and Gale were not on opposing teams, thus both boys ended up facing off against her and Peeta, much to their displeasure (Finnick hid his way better than Gale did).

And if Peeta managed to distract both Finnick and Gale enough for Katniss to score several easy points and actually win them the match, well, she wasn’t complaining. 

…

It was almost unbearably hot by the time the group had decided to put an end to the volleyball game (Finnick and Gale never quite got their shit together enough to win many rounds, much to Katniss’ pleasure, Johanna’s annoyance and Peeta’s confusion) and they all retired to what had now become an expanded camp. While the five of them had been playing, Delly and Madge had managed to combine their beach-ware into a rather comfortable set up, making them arguably the biggest group in their section of the beach. 

“It’s almost like we have friends,” Johanna commented. “Not really my style.”

Finnick laughed. “Speak for yourself.” He threw an arm around Peeta. “I’m definitely okay with the turnout.” 

Katniss, bringing up the rear of the group, got a clear view of Finnick’s hand sliding down Peeta’s sweaty back and rolled her eyes when said hand settled a little lower than was considered a friendly placement. 

“I’ll bet you are,” Gale muttered and Katniss turned to see a lethal gaze boring into the back of Finnick’s head, while his jaw tensed. 

If Gale grit his teeth any harder, he’d have a mouthful of dust. 

The guy really needed to chill.

Katniss nudged him. “Having a good day so far, Gale?” she asked loudly. “Enjoying the view?” 

“Yeah, it’s great,” he ground out through clenched teeth and Katniss smacked him on the shoulder. “Ouch, what the hell was that for?” 

Katniss only shot him a pointed look before pushing him forward towards their towels. 

They all said their hellos to Delly as they puttered about, shedding shorts and shirts and pulling out sunscreen. 

“Ouch Peeta,” Katniss said stepping next to him. “Is that a hand print on your back?”

“What?” the boy asked reaching around to feel for anything out of the ordinary. “Where?”

“Lower,” she said, watching Peeta’s hand completely miss the mark on his back. 

Johanna decided to be more helpful and came over. “Right here lover boy,” she snickered, placing her hand on the dimples of Peeta’s lower back, just above the waistband of his swim trunks. “Looks like someone shirked their sunblock duties.” The shit eating grin she had on her face let Katniss know that she was completely aware of what she was doing. Oh boy.

“Whoops,” Finnick said, popping up and taking the bait. “That’s my fault. Thought I got that spot, but guess I missed it. Here, let me get it.” He reached for the sunscreen in Peeta’s hand. Katniss however had been keeping her eyes on Gale and decided that the poor guy had had enough torture this morning. 

“I got it,” she said grabbing the sunscreen before Finnick could wrap his fingers around it. “You all head out into the water while we lather up. We’ll be right there.” And if she didn’t know any better, Finnick looked a little disappointed. She would’ve felt bad for cockblocking the guy if Gale hadn’t looked exponentially less tense. 

“Great,” Johanna cut in. “Race ya Odair!” She took off down the beach and Finnick, not being able to resist a challenge, tore off after her. 

Madge stood up and wrapped a hand around Gale’s bicep. “C’mon, Gale! I feel like I might go up in flames if I don’t get in that water now!” She more or less dragged the tall boy with her to the water and Katniss definitely caught the tail end of a wistful look thrown their way. 

Katniss smirked as she turned her attention to covering Peeta’s back in sunscreen. 

“What are you laughing about?” Peeta asked and Katniss only grinned harder.

“Nothing,” she sing-songed. “Just having a good day.” 

She felt rather than saw Peeta roll his eyes. “You’re a goddamn liar, Everdeen.”

“And you’re a goddamn tease, Mellark,” she shot back good naturedly. 

There was a beat before Delly (who they’d completely forgotten was there) broke in with:

“Is that Cato Hadley coming over or am I having a heat stroke?”

Katniss looked behind her and sure enough, the blond Adonis (not her words) was heading in their direction, looking every bit like a man on a mission.

Things were about to get much more interesting.


	5. Chicken Champ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peeta gets up close and personal with a potential suitor and becomes a Chicken Champ.
> 
> I own nothing.
> 
> Un-betaed if it wasn't obvious.

Even though Peeta had been up close and personal with a very wet Cato Hadley, it still didn’t stop a slight flush from creeping up into his cheeks when he glanced over at the sweaty (strong, sexy and down Peeta) boy heading their way. 

Cato stopped a few paces from him when he got to the camp. “Hey Peeta!” he said with a huge smile on his face. 

Peeta was burning now. “Hey Cato.”

At a loss of anything else to say, Peeta turned over his shoulder to Katniss. “How many layers of that are you gonna put on me?”

Katniss laughed. “Just finishing up. Don’t want you looking like a tomato. What boy would want you then?” 

Peeta could’ve killed her for that rather pointed comment. Really, why were they friends?

He heard Cato laugh. “I’m sure you could find plenty,” he rumbled and dear god the things Peeta would do to him to hear that voice again. 

Cato stepped closer. “Do you mind if I borrow some of that?” he asked motioning to the sunscreen in Katniss’ hand. “My group brought mostly tanning oil and I definitely do not tan like the rest of them.” Peeta turned to see the blond boy motioning to the rather noisy group just down the beach and noticed that yes most of them were very tan. Lucky bastards.

“Sure,” Katniss cut in, tossing the tube of sunscreen to him. “We’re all set here. Knock yourself out.”

Cato caught the sunscreen with the ease of an athlete. “Thanks,” he said popping the cap and squirting a generous amount of the cream into his hand before beginning to rub it in to his (chiseled, muscular, huge and seriously, wtf Mellark?) shoulders. 

“Just drop it on one of the towels when you’re done,” Katniss said. “We’re heading to the water.” 

She reached behind her and took a hold of Delly’s hand. She stopped Peeta when he started to follow her.

“You should stay for a sec,” she said. “In case Cato needs someone to do his back for him. It’s only polite.” With a devilish grin, she sprinted down the beach with a rather confused Delly in tow. Peeta stared after her completely dumbfounded.

“You going in the water?”

Peeta jumped at the closeness of Cato’s voice. He turned and found himself mere inches away from the taller boy.

“Uh, yeah,” Peeta responded eloquently. “In a minute.” 

Cato grinned wryly and proceeded to rub himself down with sunscreen and if Peeta didn’t know any better, he’d say the blond was putting on a bit of a show. 

But Peeta clearly didn’t know any better because that was most definitely not what was happening. 

At a loss of what to do, Peeta crossed his arms over his chest. “So,” he started lamely. 

Smooth, Mellark.

“So.” Cato replied smirking, clearly enjoying Peeta’s discomfort. 

Get it together Peeta thought and opened his mouth to say:

“Need me to get your back?”

‘Dear god, seriously? Did I seriously just ask if Cato Hadley wanted be to “get his back?”’ 

Peeta’s surprise must have shown on his face because Cato only grinned harder.

“If you wanted an excuse to touch me, Mellark, you could’ve just asked.”

Peeta could have died in that moment. He’d essentially made a move on one of the most popular guys in school and he hadn’t even meant to do it! 

His face was burning now and Peeta wondered if it was possible to get heatstroke from blushing.

“Um,” he stuttered. “That’s not- I mean you’re really- I just thought you’d prefer not to burn on your back.” 

Cato was far more of a gentleman than he was ever given credit for and didn’t let Peeta stew in his embarrassment for more than a handful of seconds. “Yeah, that’d be great. Sleeping on your back with a sunburn is a real bitch.”

With that, he handed the sunscreen to Peeta and turned around, giving the younger boy full access to his incredibly strong back. Peeta gulped when he saw all of those muscles on display and quickly squirted a large portion of sunscreen into his hand before reaching up and starting to massage it over Cato’s shoulders. 

Peeta kept his task as methodic as possible, fighting embarrassment and the overwhelming need to plaster himself along Cato’s back just to see what those muscles felt like. He worked in silence, gradually moving from Cato’s shoulders to the middle of his back. Peeta had to take a deep breath before venturing lower, ghosting his hands just above the waistband of Cato’s board shorts. 

If Peeta hadn’t been so quiet, he might’ve missed the low sound that Cato let out which sounded similar to a moan. 

But that was totally impossible. 

Peeta shook away the thought and with one last stroke of his hands, finished his work and stepped away from Cato.

“Ok, I think you’re good,” he said turning away to cap the sunscreen and put it back in his bag. 

He felt Cato’s eyes on him before he heard him speak. 

“Thanks. I’m sure you were very thorough.”

There was a teasing note in his voice that told Peeta that Cato was more than a little aware of what the sunscreen application process did to him. Whether or not it had the same effect on him, Peeta wasn’t sure. 

Standing back up, Peeta squared his shoulders and tried to calm himself down before he turned to the taller boy. “I’m heading to the water. It’s hot as hell. Feel free to join.” And before Cato could answer, Peeta fled down the beach and into the water, attempting to cool his burning face. 

The chilly seawater did the trick and when Peeta popped back up to the surface, he felt like he could breathe easy again. It was amazing what a few minutes of being around a good looking guy did to a boy’s sanity. And Peeta had been in the close proximity of three of them today. And it was barely 2pm.

Peeta was brought out of his thoughts when a loud splash erupted nearby and he turned to see Cato popping out of the water. He smiled over at Peeta before swimming towards him.

“This seems familiar,” he said flashing a smile. 

Peeta chuckled. “I didn’t inhale a lungful of water so I’d say this is better.” He mentally applauded himself for having a semi-witty comeback.

‘I’ve got this.’ 

Cato let out a laugh as he leaned back to wet his hair, giving Peeta an incredible view of the muscles in his torso. 

‘I don’t got this.’

When Cato leaned back up, he most definitely caught the tail end of Peeta’s ogling him and only smiled harder.

“So I never got to finish asking you,” Cato started pressing impossibly closer.

Play it cool Peeta. “Asking me what?” Okay, not bad.

Cato smirked as he bent down to whisper directly into Peeta’s ear, his hot breath causing goosebumps to spread down the younger boy’s neck. “Would you maybe wanna-“

But Peeta never got to hear what he “would maybe wanna” because several loud splashes broke up their rather intimate conversation and the same shrill voice from earlier cut in:

“Cato!”

Damn that Glimmer really knew how to throw cold water on a situation didn’t she?

Cato huffed. “What?!”

“Let’s play chicken!” Glimmer yelled excitedly.

Peeta looked up at a clearly annoyed Cato. “Do people still do that?”

Cato shrugged. “She seems to think so.”

Glimmer’s commotion drew the attention of several others and soon a small group of their classmates had gathered around, including Katniss, Gale and Madge. Finnick and Johanna had run off to rent surf boards somewhere. 

“I’ll play,” Madge said. “Gale, be my partner!” The older boy looked slightly uncomfortable, but agreed after a few seconds of Madge’s begging. 

“Fine,” he said. “Just two rounds at most.”

“Dibs on riding Cato,” Glimmer yelled, sidling up to the blond and wrapping her hand around his bicep. 

Cato rolled his eyes at the implication of that statement and another girl (Clove?) laughed. 

“Mellark’s got a better shot of that than you.”

If it was at all possible, Peeta’s blush intensified, while the group around him snickered. Especially Katniss. 

Worst. Friend. Ever.

The only person that was noticeably not laughing was Gale and Peeta was stupidly thankful for that.

A solid hand clapped him on the shoulder and brought him out of his musings. “Whaddya say, Mellark? Wanna partner up?” Cato’s blue gaze stared back at him so intently that Peeta was pretty sure ‘no’ couldn’t possibly be an answer. 

“Uh,” Peeta responded eloquently. “Sure? I mean, I’ll probably be shit at holding you up, but I’ll do my best.”

Cato let out a booming laugh at that. “Funny but you’ll be the one with the legs around my neck.”

Ok, there was no way that there wasn’t a double meaning in that. From the look in Cato’s eye, he knew exactly what he’d just said. 

There was no way Peeta was going to survive this. No way at all.

….  
Peeta survived. 

Barely.

After the rather embarrassing moment of climbing up onto Cato’s shoulders and adjusting to the feel of his legs wrapped around said shoulders, Peeta managed to forget about the precarious situation he was in and actually enjoy the game. 

It had been pretty easy taking down Madge, in spite of Gale’s attempt at keeping the slender girl on his shoulders. If Peeta slightly enjoyed throwing the girl off of Gale, no one need know.

Glimmer was a lost feistier than she let on and she and another boy (Marvel) proved decent adversaries for the title of ‘Chicken Champ.’ Eventually, Peeta proved scrappier and Cato stronger and they managed to knock Glimmer off her Marvel pedestal and take the match. 

Clove was a different story. The tiny girl was ruthless in her pursuit of a win and she and the boy she sat upon (Thresh was his name?) put up one vicious fight. If it hadn’t been for Cato’s death grip on his thighs, Peeta was sure that he would’ve plunged into the water in under a second. But, once again, their partnership proved strongest and Peeta somehow managed to knock Clove off of Thresh’s shoulders with a loud ‘splash.’ 

It didn’t take long for the team of Hadley and Mellark to be pronounced the Chicken Champions, a title that was so ridiculous it had Peeta laughing so hard that he lost his balance and fell from Cato’s shoulders. 

When he submerged from the now chilly water, Peeta was hoisted up into a tight bear hug by a laughing Cato and he joined in with the celebration. 

“We make a damn good team,” Cato said as he slid his arms from around Peeta. “You should wrap your legs around my neck more often.”

Peeta didn’t even think before responding. “I guess they fit there pretty well, huh?”

The laughter in Cato’s eyes disappeared instantly to be replaced with something significantly more heated.

Peeta realized what he’d just said and felt the color drain from his face. “Um, I mean-“

“Peeta!”

Katniss. Halle-freaking-lujah.

Peeta immediately turned towards the beach, ridiculously thankful for the distraction. “Yeah?”

“We’re getting lunch. Come on!” Katniss turned away from the shoreline to head back to their camp, but not before throwing an unreadable look back at her friend.

Peeta began heading towards the edge of the water, but remembered he’d left Cato rather rudely. “I’ll see you later, yeah?” 

Cato only nodded before turning to talk to Marvel and Clove.

When Peeta got back to his towel, everyone had already started off towards the boardwalk.

Well, almost everyone.

“Enjoying yourself out there?” Gale, who’d lingered, asked.

Peeta looked up from digging in his bag for his shirt. “It’s alright,” he replied, going back to his task. 

“Looked more than alright,” Gale muttered and Peeta looked up just in time to see a shadow cross Gale’s features. 

Strange.

Peeta shrugged it off. “More social interaction than I’ve had since elementary school, so it’s kind of a lot. Not sure how much of it I can handle.” He managed to find his t-shirt and pulled it on when he heard Gale’s muffled voice.

“You’ll get used to it. You’ll have to.” 

When Peeta popped his head through his shirt, he locked eyes with Gale and for a split second, Peeta could’ve sworn a flash of electricity shot its way down his spine. 

He must be losing his mind. Peeta shook his head slightly before slipping on his sandals and grabbing his wallet. “Shall we go?” he asked, making his way towards the boardwalk. 

A small smile made its way onto Gale’s normally stoic face. “After you.”

It might just be the heat talking, but Peeta could’ve sworn he felt Gale’s eyes trailing him as they left the beach.

He didn’t hate it.


End file.
